“Go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

It seems to be part of our human nature to try to do the minimum rather than the maximum to enter into the kingdom of God. Jesus did not come to do the minimum required to fulfill the law and the prophets. He came to go beyond the letter of the law to live the spirit of the law, and to teach us to do the same. The law and the prophets are presented in terms of what not to do. Jesus taught us that it is not enough to refrain from doing harm to others, we must help those who are hurting or in need. If we are the cause of such harm to others, it is not sufficient that we express sorrow for our action, we must demonstrate our sincere sorrow by correcting the harm we have done and then going the extra mile to do more. Jesus was teaching his disciples and us the true meaning of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Could that be the reason why the Sacrament of Reconciliation is so underutilized? Do we anticipate that our confessor will charge us to “go the extra mile” to return the person or persons we have harmed to health or wholeness.